A Chef's Guide to Shanghai Cuisine

Food writer and chef Christopher St Cavish shares his top picks for Chinese specialties and dining options in Shanghai.

Jia Jia Dumplings

Xiao long bao, or “little steamer buns," are Shanghai’s calling card. Also known as soup dumplings, the trick here is that the soup is on the inside. A hundred years after their invention in Nanxiang village, the debate rages on about the merits of a thin skin, the porkiness of the filling, and the time elapsed between being made and eating. These, from Jia Jia Tangbao, win high marks in all categories.

Jia Jia Steam Girls

Although xiao long bao are ubiquitous in Shanghai, small venues that make and steam them to order are not. At Jia Jia Tangbao, a crew of young women (said to be chosen for their nimble fingers, essential in handling the delicate dumplings) fill and wrap the dumplings to order and then must brave the steam to retrieve them several minutes later.

Yangcheng Lake crabs

Crab connoisseurs may already know about Shanghai’s hairy crabs, so-called for a matted flop on their claws and fine golden hairs on their legs. True aficionados, however, head straight to Yangcheng Lake an hour away to pick out their crabs themselves. The show up sometime later trussed, steamed, and ready to dip in mellow brown vinegar.

Zongzi, wrapped

In early summer, these bamboo-leaf wrapped parcels, known as zongzi, start appearing en masse in anticipation of the Dragon Boat Festival. The story goes that after an ancient poet-scholar drowned in a lake, the locals threw rice into the waters to distract the fish.

Zongzi, unwrapped

These days, the locals are much more practical. Instead of drowning perfectly good rice, they season it with soy sauce, push a piece of red-braised pork or a salted egg yolk in the center, and wrap it in bamboo or reed leaves to be steamed—a win for the living. These particular zongzi are the work of Chubby Feng, a suburban Shanghai farmer-turned-zongzi mogul.

Sheng Jian Bao

These shallow-fried dumplings are sheng jian bao, the masculine answer to the feminine xiao long bao. Their thicker wrappers hold a similar pork broth inside, but instead of a gentle steam, they go for a golden crisping in these large, iron pans and a sprinkling of sesame seeds and chopped spring onions. These are only found in Shanghai.

Hot Pot, Yi Pin Ju

Although Shanghainese may position themselves in public as much more sophisticated than those Beijing northerners, they’re not above borrowing their hot pot technique in private. Expensive cars line up outside of hole-in-the-wall Yi Pin Ju, smack in downtown, for its hand-cut Mongolian lamb, which gets swished around the coal-fired brass pot and then dunked in a sauce of sesame paste, coriander, and soy sauce or vinegar.

Liangfen, Yu Xin

Sichuan’s fiery cuisine has spread across China in the last decade, and it's extremely popular in Shanghai. Yu Xin Chuan Cai, a chain that originated in Chongqing and cooks as if it never left, is one of the best. Here, the chuanbei liangfen, a cool noodle made from beans, slathered in a spicy, garlicky, and deep savory chili sauce.

Night Market, Old Town

Scenes like this nighttime, al fresco kitchen are disappearing in Shanghai but can still be found on a number of streets in Nanshi, the Old Town of dense, low-rise buildings and lively alleys that is under threat from the march of the skyscrapers. Even at 3 a.m., as this photo shows, these quick and dirty stir-fry joints do a brisk trade.

North Korean

For something a bit different, try one of Shanghai’s several North Korean restaurants. The NK government-owned chain Pyongyang Okryu serves up a song and dance along with its banchan and grilled short ribs, complete with North Korean waitresses in traditional dress playing guitars and drums, or belting out folk ballads.